Who is God calling you to be?

Be a Jesuit

Dear Jesuit woman, have you had this experience?

You are browsing the latest issue of your Catholic magazine, or your province’s quarterly magazine, or a Facebook page, or the pamphlets and cards on the literature table at your university chapel or ministry office.

“Be a Jesuit,” the ad proclaims. Yes! Your heart says. And then a familiar icy-hot hand clamps down on your heart and your stomach, because you know the invitation is not addressed to you. Is there a little wave of nausea, a sense of defeat? A flare of resentment? A passing desolation?

If so, please allow me to inquire into the thought that animates that burning-cold grip on your heart. Is it true? Can you absolutely know that it is true, that this invitation is not addressed to you? This question doesn’t have a right answer. It’s yours to explore. Now feel free to pause for a moment (or a few days, or a few weeks) with your own answer before reading this.